The gaming industry continues to grow at a rapid rate, even during the current economic climate. More and more consumers are becoming gamers – whether it is casual or hardcore. As the interactive entertainment audience expands so does the potential for effective advertising. Currently most in-game ads are simply based around product placement. This is surely a great method of improving visibility and top-of-mind product awareness. However, this severely limits the volume of potential advertisers due to the high cost of product implementation and lead time. In-game signage & billboards is another approach.

Here’s an older YouTube video highlighting the primary methods of in-game advertising:

So, if you were in the middle of racing 7 other players in Burnout Paradise, driving at 200+ mph, would you be inclined to stop and look at a billboard? Even if viewers of in-game do take notice to the billboards and products, how measurable is it? To my knowledge there’s been no conversion event associated with in-game ads; no methods of measuring success outside of views, length of view, and potential product interaction. If gamers purchase a pair of Nike shoes in Skate 2, can a brick & mortar conversion be associated with it at a later date?

Improvements should be made so we can interact with users, engage them, provide value to the user and finally a simple conversion event. Grand Theft Auto IV had the perfect opportunity to achieve this next generation of interactive advertising. Within the game, your main character was able to logon to a virtual network from computer cafes (and eventually within his apartment). Rockstar could have potentially partnered with AdScape or Massive to create a micro-market that tapped into GTAIV’s “intranet”. Just an idea, but this could take advantage of geo-targeting, dynamic bidding, mini display/search ads – all with a humorous twist to blend into the game’s existing environment of course!

I predict that we’ll all begin to see more interactive ads within the gaming industry and less virtual billboards over the next few years. With consoles typically being connected to a live internet connection constantly, sending user activity to trigger follow-up emails and text messages could lead to very measurable results in a seemingly untapped market. We just need to make sure that the ads are fun, the consumers are engaged and the in-game interaction is rewarding.